1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having a locking function for locking a rotary operation dial to be operated rotationally, such as a mode setting dial, relative to a rotational predetermined position, and particularly aims at improving its operationality.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known, a camera employs rotary operation dials such as a mode setting dial, shutter speed setting dial, and exposure compensation value setting dial so that the selection among a plurality of setting information can be performed at the same section. In such an arrangement, when a rotary operation dial is rotated by an accidental force to result in a switching of the photographing mode, there may be brought an unintended result, which can be a cause of trouble in a worse case.
In consideration of the above-described points, there has conventionally been known an arrangement that a push button is provided next to a rotary operation dial in the same plane, and that a lock spring is moved downward through the push button so that the engagement at the leading end of the lock spring, which is fitted into a groove formed in the lower face of the rotary operation dial, is released to be unlocked (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-75898 for example).
However, the arrangement according to the foregoing patent document suffers from a problem in that a push button for lock release operation, a lock spring, a constitution as well as a fixing member for fixing the lock spring, etc. are required in addition to the rotary operation dial, resulting in an increase in the number of parts and also in a complex configuration, which reduces the workability substantially.